Who was the City of Torrance Named After?

Torrance was founded on May 31, 1911 by Jared Sidney Torrance and Associates by the purchase of 2,791 acres of land from the Dominguez Estate Company for $976,850. Susana Dominguez del Amo sold an additional 730 acres to Torrance for $350 per acre. This land was originally a small part of the Spanish land grant called Rancho San Pedro, given to Juan Jose Dominguez in 1784 ( See the History of the South Bay for a discussion of the early Spanish land grant ranchos). At its inception, this planned industrial town provided housing for 500 people.

In March 1912, Torrance had originally proposed that the new development be named "Dominquez". The post office would not allow the use of this name since there was already a post office with that name. On March 12, 1912, at a meeting of the board of directors of The Dominquez Land Company, of which Jared Torrance was President, this issue was discussed, with many variants of the name "Dominquez" discussed. Other names considered included "Southport" ,""Coronel," "Obrador," "Don Manuel" and "Industrial". Finally, over the objections of Jared Torrance, the board approved a resolution naming the new development "Torrance". The city was incorporated in 1921, and had a population of about 1,800 residents.

Jared Torrance, Founder of the City of Torrance

For more, see the following link on my website on the History of Torrance